Tessa Jowell's husband David Mills is being investigated for receiving a £355,000 payment after he had, in his own words, "turned some very tricky corners" during a bribery trial to keep Silvio Berlusconi "out of a great deal of trouble I would have landed him in if I had said all I knew".

Mr Mills was for years Mr Berlusconi's adviser on tax avoidance and one can only guess what he's kept under his hat.

As we reveal today this couple have been dogged by controversy for years.

We are sure no impropriety attaches to Miss Jowell but as this saga gets smellier by the day, it would be comforting if she could give the Commons her assurance that she has absolutely no involvement in her husband's deeply unedifying activities.